1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to telephone service providers, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to providing post-call announcements to a called party from the telephone service providers.
2. Background of the Invention
Telephone service providers are constantly looking to new ways of advertising new or existing services such as long distance to subscribers. For example, some long distance telephone service providers allow callers the ability to call other subscribers of that same long distance provider for a fixed, monthly fee. The calls are branded with an audio logo so that callers are notified that the cost of the call is free (i.e., included in the fixed monthly fee). While branding the call may alert the calling party that the call is free, this branding message does not reach the called party.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,244, herein incorporated in its entirety, describes a system and method for playing an audio logo or announcement to calling party during a telecommunications call. Upon receipt of the call, a switch within a network accesses a service database to determine if the call should receive an audio logo or audible announcements during call set-up. This determination is based on call attribute information such as the calling party number, the dialed number, the carrier identification code, trunk group characteristics, and/or “II” digits; and pre-provisioned data arrays, such as lists of originating numbers, destination numbers, carrier identification codes, trunk group characteristics, and/or II digits that should or should not receive an announcement or announcements. An announcement frame in the switch plays the announcement(s) to the calling party, while the switch simultaneously sets up the call to the called party.
Therefore, there is a need for the ability to deliver a post-call announcement of the service provider to the called party.